10 Baby Myths: The truth about those old wives’ tales

Most new moms have been given advice on the dos and don’ts of caring for an infant. Some of it is relevant and helpful, while some is a load of hogwash. And since most of the advice comes from well-meaning family and friends, it can sometimes be hard to tell the serious from the silly.

Dr. Carden Johnston, former president of the American Academy of Pediatrics and professor emeritus of pediatrics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine helps us separate fact from fiction. Not only has Dr. Johnston been practicing medicine since 1966, he and his wife have also been foster parents to 18 newborns, so we’re pretty sure he knows what he’s talking about.

TALE: What a breast-feeding mom eats can upset baby’s tummy.

TRUTH: “Some medicines that mom takes can cross over to the baby,” Dr. Johnston says. “So it would stand to reason that some food products would pass through, too. As far as certain foods upsetting a child’s stomach, there’s just no good data. It’s all just what grandparents have told children and grandchildren.

“If the foods upset mom’s stomach, they may upset baby’s, too. But very rarely, if ever, do foods that mom eats bother the baby.”

TALE: Picking up a baby too much will spoil him.

TRUTH: Dr. Johnston says this tale likely started during the Depression era. “Parents who were stoic and came thru the Depression had a different view of raising children and pain and suffering. The thought was, ‘You’re supposed to hurt a little bit.’ ” Therefore, it didn’t harm a child to let him “cry it out.”

“Children cry, and they’re supposed to cry; that’s the way they communicate,” Dr. Johnston says. “Picking them up is a tremendous positive reinforcement, and it slows the crying. When a child cries, you think that something is going on with that child. They’re feeling anxiety or need something. If a child is feeling anxiety, there is some scientific evidence that that slows down some brain development. So it’s probably beneficial to hold the babies a lot, whether they’re crying or not.”

One caveat: If the child is crying, crying, crying, and you’ve fed him, changed his diaper, and tried everything to comfort him, but nothing is working, it’s a good idea to put the baby down before you get too frustrated. “Parents have to take care of themselves,” Dr. Johnston says. “If you’re getting frustrated, it’s good for you to take a break. Lay baby in the crib, get some rest, then come back and try again to comfort baby.”

“Bottom line is: Picking babies up every time they cry won’t spoil them. But don’t feel guilty if you’re not picking baby up every time there’s a whimper.”

TALE: Teething can cause diarrhea and/or fever.

TRUTH: “Parents often tell me their child is upset and having diarrhea and running fever when they teethe,” Dr. Johnston says. “It’s persisted so much in the common myth area that studies have been done, and all the studies showed no relationship between teething, diarrhea and fever (less than 100.6 degrees).”

However, in judging between science and what parents say, Dr. Johnston leans toward a more practical view. “My wife says teething does cause loose stools, and I hear that quite often so I tend to believe parents. There is a change at some point in teething and it may be different for different children.”

TALE: Feeding cereal at a very early age will help babies sleep.

TRUTH: “That’s common vernacular, and studies have been done and it doesn’t seem to work,” Dr. Johnston says. “What we’ve found is what children need in the first 6 months of life is breast milk. If you start adding other proteins, that could set up allergies and problems later on. There are some disadvantages to feeding children cereal at an early age and no measurable advantages. And that’s a change from when I started in the practice and we started cereal at two weeks or four weeks.

“Breast milk is best, and that or formula alone should satisfy all their needs until about 4 1/2 months when we start complementary foods.”

TALE: Reading to your fetus will make your baby smarter.

TRUTH: “Reading to baby or playing soft music after they’re born seems to keep baby calmer. And the calmer you keep the baby, the better the brain’s neurons grow,” Dr. Johnston says. But those benefits do not extend to time in the womb.

“It makes a little sense that parents who are concerned about their baby in the uterus and are singing to the baby are paying more attention and learning more about the baby.” And once the child is born, this may help the parents feel a stronger connection to the infant.

“It’s the same old story: The more attention you give your children, the better they’ll develop. It’s not cause and effect on the reading; it’s just paying attention and being concerned about the baby.”

Dr. Johnston offers this anecdote: He once had a patient whose parents sang “Puff the Magic Dragon” to their baby throughout the pregnancy. After the baby was born, the parents swore the child would calm down when he heard the song. “The familiarity of the noise was recognized by the baby,” Dr. Johnston says.

“Reading or especially singing to the fetus calms the parent and with a calm parent the growth facility of the baby is enhanced,” he adds. “There’s less fight-flight-fright hormone circulated in the mother, and if there’s less in the mother, there’s less in baby, too. Because mom is singing, those sounds are transmitted throughout the body’s fluids and can get to baby’s auditory network better.”

TALE: An infant’s thumb-sucking or pacifier use will cause “buck teeth.”

TRUTH: “If this were true, there should be lots of folks around with buck teeth,” Dr. Johnston says with a laugh. According to the American Dental Association’s web site, “After the permanent teeth come in, sucking may cause problems with the proper growth of the mouth and alignment of the teeth. Children should have ceased sucking by the time the permanent front teeth are ready to erupt.”

“Fortunately, most people quit sucking their thumbs when they get exposed to a lot of peer pressure when they get to kindergarten. There are a lot of testimonials of people who were thumb-suckers or paci suckers who end up with normal teeth to dispel this theory,” Dr. Johnston adds, chuckling.

On a serious note, “There’s early development of the maxilla of the teeth area, and then as you go through adolescence there’s another growth period. I think that secondary growth period has a lot to do with avoiding buck teeth as well.”